Evaluation and Support

Compensation

A snapshot of substitute teacher policies

Substitute teachers have been in the news frequently as of late. In our most recent Teacher Trendline we laid out what we know about substitute teacher policies from the Teacher Contract Database. One thing is clear: there's a wide range in district policies.

The minimum education requirement for substitute teachers ranges from a high school diploma or GED in 11 percent of districts to a Bachelor's degree in 41 percent of districts. Licensing requirements also run the gamut. While eight percent of district policies require full teacher licenses for regular daily substitutes, 44 percent have no licensing requirements. When it comes to compensation, Portland (OR) leads the way, paying substitutes a minimum of $182 per day. On the other end of the pay scale are 16 percent of districts that only pay a minimum of $70 per day or less.

What else can we say about most districts in the database? Seventy-seven percent do not address health care coverage for substitute teachers in their contracts, board policies, or substitute teacher handbooks. Of the 28 districts that do address the issue, 14 provide health care only to long-term or full-time substitute teachers.

Read more about substitute teacher policies across the districts in our Teacher Contract Database here.

Kency manages NCTQ's Teacher Contract Database and serves as the lead data analyst for district projects. She has a Master of Public Policy degree from American University where she focused on statistical analysis and education policy and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from UCLA.